The present invention relates to a vehicle provided with an inertia-reel seat belt.
Safety belts with which vehicles are presently equipped are not well adapted to the service expected by the user. In particular, they are awkward to fasten and this is one of the reasons why many motorists do not use them.
The locking system, located between two adjacent seats, is of difficult access, not visible at night and often hidden by part of the clothing. In certain vehicles, the handbrake must be released to be able to reach it. The locking operation is similar to the insertion of a key in a lock, and either one must lean over to see the lock or grope for it, this in either case distracting the driver's attention whilst he is driving.
More serious still are the difficulties in unlocking in the case of an accident. The rescuer arriving from the outside must look for the lock between the two seats and use a torch at night. The two seats may be brought closer together due to the accident and thus wedge the lock, rendering it inaccessible. The body of one of the motorists may be lying on the lock.
Various consequences result from these drawbacks, one being that numerous motorists (more than 20% in France) do not always fasten their seat belt when on the highway, despite the fact that this is compulsory and despite the considerable propaganda which has been made. This reticence, combined with the inconvenience of the frequent lockings and unlockings of the prior known devices, is one reason why the compulsory wearing of seat belts in town has, to the present time, not been enforced.
Statistics clearly show the advantage of the belt, but so many motorists are insensitive to the eloquent figures and adjust their behaviour depending on the few accidents reported by the press.